Local

LA set to out contractors who work on Trump's wall

The Los Angeles City Council wants to force contractors who do business with the city to disclose if they've also taken any contracts to work on President Trump's border wall.
Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

The proposed law wouldn’t explicitly blackball border wall contractors, though the motion says that taxpayers deserve to know whether they're funding people or firms involved in a wall that "could eventually harm the City and its residents."

"We in Los Angeles have been very clear on our position on this matter. We oppose the wall," said Councilmember Gil Cedillo, who introduced the motion. "We want to know if there are people who do business with the city of Los Angeles ... who wish to profit from building a wall that would divide us from our nearest and dearest neighbor, Mexico."

The council still must decide how much weight to give the issue when vetting contractors. A Cedillo spokesman said those questions will be taken up in future committee meetings. After the committee process, the full council will vote on the proposed ordinance.

The Association of General Contractors of California is opposed to these proposals, calling them "discriminatory and retaliatory."

Such moves would have "a real world impact on companies and their employees in terms of curtailing their ability to provide jobs and contribute to the economy," said Association CEO Tom Holsman.

The Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce has not taken a position on the proposed contractor notification law, "but personally I believe that using a subjective litmus test like this to judge contractors is bad precedent," Chamber President and CEO Gary Toebben said in a statement.

"There is no end to the number of legal business or personal relationships that contractors could potentially be asked about or judged on that have nothing to do with the quality of their work for the City of Los Angeles," he added.